. >> reporter: senator john mccain grilled chuck hagel about his opposition to the troop surge in iraq. >> and your refusal to answer whether you were right or wrong about it is going to have an impact on my judgment as to whether to vote for your confirmation or not. >> reporter: some republicans have said they won't support hagel. he tried to address their concern. >> i'm on the record many times in speeches and on the floor of the senate. in the book i wrote in 2008 says iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. >> reporter: hagel served as senator from nebraska for eight earring. during that time he made comments that are still under scrutiny. >> where we've been intimidated by the lobby to do something dumb. >> i can't give you any example. >> thank you. do you agree you shouldn't have said something like is that? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: if confirmed he'll be the first vietnam vet to lead the pentagon. >> i saw from the bottom. i see what happens. i saw the consequences and suffering and horrors of war. >> reporter: sam nunn strongly supports naegele's nomination. >> he comes from